His tribe didn’t know he’s gay. He thought he did poorly in this week’s immunity challenge. He tried to persuade his alliance in the last minute, unfortunately, nothing happened Spencer Duhm was still voted out.

As the youngest castaway in Survivor History at 19, Spencer was perceived to be a big threat from the beginning. The only problem with his strategy was he didn’t came across the board. His strategy was nearly under the radar and that cost him the cut.

Talking about Spencer’s strategy, Taj immediately came into power by finding the hidden immunity necklace but looks like not the 100% power, the reason behind: she’s not keeping it inside her pocket. Instead she handled the necklace to Stephen, her closest ally in the secret-four-way-alliance. Taj’s decision implied she completely expects Stephen on her side. However, the “trust” decision sounds worn-out to me. When the necklace was at his grab, Brendan didn’t share it to Sierra.

Trust is a fragile element in SURVIVOR. One needs only to give a little trust to earn little trust, not to a point putting the hidden immunity necklace into someone’s pockets. This event put Stephen in the power position too, probably the most powerful member in Jalapao.

When Stephen said to Taj, “I’ve never brought such pleasure to a woman before,” Jeff Probst in his EW blog thought that “Stephen is going for broke and playing this game full on.”

Considering also the event Brendan took Stephen in Exile Island, the story can change in an instant. These two gentlemen are rolling the ball in their palms and anything can happen in the next weeks to come.

But wait, there’s still Tyson. He brilliantly pieced the puzzles in their right corner that might put Brendan’s four-way-alliance in great jeopardy. Tyson was really the BIG thinker of this season. In the past episodes, he became the assistant coach of Benjamin. Now he instantly claimed himself as the mind reader putting too much pressure not only Brendan but also to his tribe.

Wow, this man can oust anyone he likes. Tyson was like the storm that bursts in Timbira camp while Coach was reading wind directions. It can be very possible for Tyson to snake into Brendan’s secret alliance and oust Coach? 🙂

That seems nonsense but it can work, right?

It was a different Tyson in challenges. He was in no doubt the savior of Timbira during the launch-the-ball-in-air immunity challenge. JT immediately marked a 2-0 lead for his tribe but Brendan rallied over to put the game in 2-2.

Even with Joe broke his knee and with JT saying goodbye to his tooth, Jalapao moved ahead as JT’s impressive catch continue in play.

The score was 4-2 and Jalapao was only a point away from winning. Big thanks to Tyson! He secured three straight points for another Timbira’s victory. Truth is; the last point was in big sighs. JT was nearly in possession of the ball but misses it, throwing his net into the water (reminds me of Marat Safin’s aggression in tennis courts).

Jalapao and Timbira were definitely two of the best tribes in Survivor History. These two tribes were always neck-in-neck to avoid a date with Jeff Probst in TC . Timbira broke down in reward challenges but whoa, their spirits came back in big explosions just to win immunity.

It’s nearly merge or but still, no shocking twists yet and wow, four of my earlier picks are still on board. Before I wrap up, this week’s spinning-around reward challenge was all a blast. How those people do it? Spinning in a platform then crossing the a beam balance? Do you think it would be more interesting if the beam balance was at least a meter higher on the ground?

But all praise to Jalapao, especially to beautiful Sydney for winning the final point for Jalapao to enjoy the muffins, cakes and letters from home.